Lee Pil-sang, former president of Korea University, speaks after he was elected to the first chairman of the Korean Society of Engineering Asset Management (KSEAM).

The Korean Society of Engineering Asset Management (KSEAM) held its first session and a seminar celebrating the inauguration at the K-Hotel in Yangjae-dong, Seoul, on May 8. 

On the same day, Lee Pil-sang, former president of Korea University, was elected to be the first chairman of KSEAM.

“We’ve neglected stable and efficient management of social infrastructure and industrial assets, which has taken a back seat due to a focus on economic growth for 50 years, and the situation has ended up to a series of accidents and led to incurring of huge social costs,” said Lee said in his inaugural speech. “Our society will study and systematize planning, operation, construction, installation and decommission.”

The KSEAM chairman said his society will go forward with the goal of making the nation safe and spur healthy economic growth, and it will lay the groundwork for Korean exports by working out international standards on engineering asset management.

During the inaugural session, Chairman Baek Soo-hyun of Korean Standards Association (KSA), Chairman Shin Wan-sun of the Korean Society for Quality Management, and Chairman Lee Woo-bang of the Korea Engineering Asset Management Association also delivered a speech. 

KSEAM is expected to contribute to laying a scientific foundation to strategically manage social infrastructure and corporate production facilities and prevent safety accidents through scientific research activities about asset management. 

The significance of engineering asset management has emerged as social responsibility toward the environment and stability is stressed. Demand from society is mounting on curbing related dangers. Such social infrastructure assets as roads, ports, railways, energy, communications, tap water, waste water, schools and national defense facilities, as well all plants and facilities are the subject of engineering asset management. 

Engineering asset management is designed to maximize efficiency and stability by managing social infrastructure and industrial facilities in an optimal manner.

The United Kingdom began to establish groundwork on engineering asset management under the name “terotechnology” from the 1970s. The U.K. government has been assisting the establishment and operation of an institution specializing in engineering asset management of social infrastructure since the 1990s. The United States introduced engineering asset management in 1992, when the need for systematic management of dilapidated social infrastructure was reported to the U.S. Congress. The International Standards Organisation (ISO) accepted PAS 55 as the basis for development of the new ISO 55000 series of international standards of physical asset management. 

During the inaugural seminar, Prof. Lee Woo-do of Pukyong National University spoke about the current status and tasks while Chairman Joseph Mathew of the International Society of Engineering Asset Management (ISEAM) lectured on the theme “Trends in Managing Complex Assets.” 

In a related development, the Korean Standards Association (KSA) will serve as the Secretariat of KSEAM. KSA will share and transfer its own research activities and knowhow on applications to industrial fields with KSEAM.